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Alastair Stewart is a freelance writer and communications professional.

Alastair writes regular features on politics, history and culture with a particular interest in the life of Sir Winston Churchill.

Alastair’s fiancée is from Gevgelija, Macedonia and he’s proud of his adopted Macedonian heritage. In 2018, he was appointed communications director for the United Macedonian Diaspora, an NGO promoting the interests and needs of Macedonian communities worldwide. He regularly writes about his travels and experiences there and has been published in The Scotsman and Kurir.

Alastair was appointed as communications advisor to the MCRIP(UK) Scenario Editorial Committee and has worked as deputy press officer for Bremain in Spain, a grass-roots campaign working to stay in the EU. Additionally, he launched a campaign to introduce MPs for British citizens abroad based on the Macedonian model of representation.

Alastair founded DARROW in 2013, Scotland’s only dedicated forum for more than 200 up and coming writers. The magazine works with 16-35-year-olds to give them the tools they need to share their ideas, hone their craft and thrive as writers, journalists, and storytellers.

As a Cambridge exam instructor, Alastair has taught English and History in Spain and prepared more than 400 students for Cambridge ESOL examinations. He conducts writing and debate workshops, encouraging students to develop their writing style and passion for literature at all opportunities.

Alastair was previously a press officer at the Scottish Parliament and worked in public affairs. He remains an enthusiastic speechwriter for stakeholders in the public and private sector. He graduated from Edinburgh University in 2011 with a degree in International Relations.

He is an avid reader, has recently fallen in love with comics and wishes he’d created Flashman. He splits his time between Edinburgh, Macedonia and Spain with his fiancée and occasionally dazzles in the kitchen (although she questions this assertion…).

Katy Perry seems an unlikely choice to spearhead satire. Nevertheless, her parody of Donald Trump and Theresa May at the 2017 Brit Awards was expert trolling: Dancing skeletons of the two leaders summed up the feelings of an entire generation that isn’t content to have their future snapped away.

And it didn’t stop there. There’s a silent protest ripping apart the pretentiousness of leaders and their disconnect from the electorate. Street art is now the mocking pointing finger. Across the country, murals are popping up which are, most of the time, NSFW. And why should they be? Protests should not be pretty, and artistic expression across history has always contained frustration and motive in the solid paint markers on street walls.

Donald Trump is a bloated muse of comedy. He exists as a mirror for comedians to see the monster they’ve created with decades of lampooning grey politicians. He is a decidedly reactionary beast and the same applies to May: her sanguine commitment to Brexit has created a pantomime villain of false modesty. Forever and always have people pined for decisiveness and are now left with precisely that with little room for discourse. Be careful what you wish for is the lesson.

That street art across the country and the world is taking aim on such an absurd situation is not surprising. It’s less surprising still that much of it contains sexual innuendo as to the nature of their relationship; just how ‘special’ it is and who has the power.

May’s relationship with Trump and her urgent need to make Britain ‘global’ (whatever that means) necessitates getting into bed with someone who not only openly despises women but is just as equally a protectionist. The irony, the deceptions, the empty smiles are ripe for parody: are our leaders unaware of the hypocrisy, or are they too stupid to realise the inherent contradictions in their agenda?

Young people have never even more isolated, and some are lashing out. Street art represents an immutable reaction against a political class that doesn’t want to listen, a voting system that is flawed and a society that feels angrier than ever in a generation. It is no coincidence that these montages are so often graphic in their depiction and so publicly displayed.

There is one question that overrides all others. Who is worse: the fool, or the fool that follows?

Theresa May’s obsession with Brexit disguises a mind that was probably never as pro-Remain as she thought she was. Trump’s racist rhetoric toward Muslims is as absurd as it is unfounded.

Street art, like all great protests, is a voice for the people and it should continue to be innovative, crass and loud.

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Published by Alastair Stewart

Alastair works as a freelance writer and journalist and has written extensively about Scottish politics for publications across Europe. He writes regular features on politics, culture and history as well as reporting on local news for some of the largest English-speaking publications in Spain.
In 2013, Alastair founded DARROW to support new and emerging writing talent in Scotland and around the world.
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Alastair Stewart is a freelance writer and communications professional. He regularly writes about politics, history, and culture for magazines across Europe with a particular interest in the life of Sir Winston Churchill.